Five years of Reardens All-Star football winners

With the Reardens 2025 All-Star awards night taking place this weekend, at 8pm on Sunday January 4, there will be both familiar and new faces stepping forward to collect individual honours.

All are welcome on the night at Reardens Bar, where St Finbarr’s goalkeeper Darragh Newman will receive his first award.

In doing so, he becomes the first Barrs goalkeeper to be honoured since John Kerins in 2021, the year the Togher side last climbed the county summit.

Newman is one of six award recipients from St Finbarr’s this year – among them Steven Sherlock – whose name has become almost synonymous with the occasion.

The talismanic forward is collecting his fifth consecutive All-Star, the only player to feature in every team since the awards returned post-COVID.

In the time since the All-Stars returned after its enforced hiatus, 12 different teams have been represented among the football winners.

Castlehaven lead the way with 21 individual awards across the five seasons, but will have just one recipient this Sunday night.

Former Cork senior Mark Collins will collect his fourth All-Star this weekend, matching the tallies of his teammates and current Rebels Rory Maguire and Brian Hurley.

All three have been central figures in Castlehaven’s sustained presence at the latter stages of the championship, their repeat selections are proof of that.

St Finbarr’s Ian Maguire and Brian Hayes will also be honoured once more, each receiving a third award since 2021. Both were selected in the first two post-pandemic teams and return again in 2025.

A YEAR OF FIRSTS

For Valley Rovers, this one is special. Fiachra Lynch, who’s set to take on a player-manager role with the Innishannon club in 2026, will be their first winner of the 2021-25 period. His outstanding performances in the PSFC this year, and a particularly influential showing in the relegation playoff replay against Carbery Rangers, are proof of the fact these awards are not tied to championship outcomes.

Newcestown, too, will mark a significant milestone. Luke Meade, David Buckley and Paul Kelly will all receive All-Star awards, the club’s first recipients after their exceptional run to the PSFC semi-finals.

Ballincollig’s Luke Fahy becomes the club’s third All-Star winner since 2021, following Darren Murphy in 2022 and Cian Dorgan in 2023. It is Fahy’s first selection, but his performances have been catching the eye for Ballincollig for quite some time.

Beaten county finalists Nemo Rangers will see Colin Molloy, Mark Cronin and Alan O’Donovan step forward this weekend, bringing the club’s overall total since 2021 to 17 awards. For Molloy and Cronin it is a second selection, while captain O’Donovan collects his first, The grip of the championship’s dominant trio is reflected in the numbers, though. Of the 75 football All-Stars awarded since 2021, 56 – almost 75% – have gone to players from Nemo Rangers, St Finbarr’s or Castlehaven.

The remaining 19 are shared across nine other clubs and divisions.

Divisional sides Carbery, Duhallow and Muskerry all have one each, though this year brings an end to the three-year run of a divisional recipient. Brian O’Driscoll took a midfield spot with Carbery in ‘22, Luke Murphy was in the half-forward line for Duhallow in ‘23, while Mark Corrigan placed at centre-back for Muskerry in ‘24.

Reardens Football All-Stars 2021: John Kerins (St Finbarr’s); Tom Clancy (Clonakilty), Jamie Burns (St Finbarr’s), Rory Maguire (Castlehaven); Sean White (Clonakilty), Eoghan Deasy (Clonakilty), Colm Scully (St Finbarr’s); Ian Maguire (St Finbarr’s), Joe Grimes (Clonakilty); Brian Hayes (St Finbarr’s), Mark Collins (Castlehaven), Sean Powter (Douglas); Dara Ó Sé (Clonakilty), Brian Hurley (Castlehaven), Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s).

Reardens Football All-Stars  2022: Micheál Aodh Martin (Nemo Rangers); Kevin O'Donovan (Nemo Rangers), Briain Murphy (Nemo Rangers), Colm Scully (St Finbarr's); Rory Maguire (Castlehaven), Stephen Cronin (Nemo Rangers), Mattie Taylor (Mallow); Ian Maguire (St Finbarr's), Brian O'Driscoll (Carbery); Conor Horgan (Nemo Rangers), Brian Hurley (Castlehaven), Brian Hayes (St Finbarr's); Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr's), Luke Connolly (Nemo Rangers), Darren Murphy (Ballincollig).

Reardens Football All-Stars  2023: Micheál Aodh Martin (Nemo Rangers); Briain Murphy (Nemo Rangers), Rory Maguire (Castlehaven), Ronan Walsh (Castlehaven); Kevin O’Donovan (Nemo Rangers), Damien Cahalane (Castlehaven), Mark Collins (Castlehaven); Barry Cripps (Nemo Rangers), Conor Cahalane (Castlehaven); Michael Hurley (Castlehaven), Jack Cahalane (Castlehaven), Luke Murphy (Duhallow); Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s), Brian Hurley (Castlehaven), Cian Dorgan (Ballincollig).

Reardens Football All-Stars  2024: Darragh Cahalane (Castlehaven); Johnny O’Regan (Castlehaven), Rory Maguire (Castlehaven), Colin Molloy (Nemo Rangers); Matty Taylor (Mallow), Mark Corrigan (Muskerry), Mark Collins (Castlehaven); Barry Cripps (Nemo Rangers), Andrew Whelton (Castlehaven); Seán McDonnell (Mallow), Jack Cahalane (Castlehaven), Paul Kerrigan (Nemo Rangers); Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s), Brian Hurley (Castlehaven), Mark Cronin (Nemo Rangers).

Reardens Football All-Stars  2025: Darragh Newman (St Finbarr’s); Billy Hennessy (St Finbarr’s), Colin Molloy (Nemo Rangers), Paul Kelly (Newcestown); Luke Fahy (Ballincollig), Alan O’Connor (St Finbarr’s), Mark Collins (Castlehaven); Ian Maguire (St Finbarr’s), Alan O’Donovan (Nemo Rangers); Luke Meade (Newcestown), Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s), David Buckley (Newcestown); Fiachra Lynch (Valley Rovers), Brian Hayes (St Finbarr’s), Mark Cronin (Nemo Rangers).